INTEGRARE SOCIALĂ, SUPORT FILANTROPIC ȘI IDENTITATE RELIGIOASĂ ÎN CONTEXTUL MIGRAȚIEI ROMÂNILOR ÎN STRĂINĂTATE

Abstract

Social Integration, Philanthropic Support and Religious Identity in the Context of Romanian Migration Abroad.

The phenomenon of migration is a large-scale phenomenon that has marked the lives of many Romanian emigrants. Any individual who has gone through the experience of migration can undergo identity changes. These changes are noticed with integration in the country of migration, by adapting to the new social environment, accepting  reference models from other environments/social groups, integrating and assimilating into another social group, acquiring another language, new social relationships, accepting and appropriating other norms, rules and principles of life. Once they arrived in the country of migration, the Romanians created their organizational structure to protect  their interests and to preserve the traditions and customs of the Romanian nation. An important institution for Romanian emigrants is the church. This institution has become the place where Romanians find themselves as a national and religious identity and outline a social identity. The church is the center of the community of Romanians where  there is a feeling of belonging to the same culture and nation, where new friendships are formed, where there is mutual support for integration into economic and social life. Within this institution, the community is perceived as a larger family, grouped around common prayer in the church and engaged in a Christian life, as serious as possible.  Those involved in the migration process most often join the church, in the first phase, for social-philanthropic reasons, and later form their own religious identity through involvement and participation in specific church activities.